Olympic-bound boxers Mary Kom and Lovlina Borgohain get first jab of Covid-19 vaccine

New Delhi, May 12: India's Olympic-bound boxers Mary Kom and Lovlina Borgohain received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Command Hospital in Pune on Wednesday (May 12).

The ongoing elite women national camp at the Army Sports Institute in Pune, which is scheduled to go on till July 31 and is conducted for the Olympic qualified pugilists, where the six-time world champion Mary Kom and two-time world championship bronze medallist Lovlina are currently training.

Alongside the duo, four members from the coaching and support staff team also received their first jab of the vaccine. The elite women national camp resumed at the Army Sports Institute as part of boxers' preparations for the 2021 Tokyo Games.

With a surge in the Covid-19 cases, the decision was taken to shift the camp to Pune which will go on till July 31.

The 2019 World Championship bronze medallist Jamuna Boro (54kg) is also making a return to the national camp after a long break due to an injury as she is included among the 10 boxers selected to take part in the national camp. While another Olympic qualified boxer Pooja Rani (75kg), who has been training at IIS Bellary since the lockdown, will continue to train at the same venue for now.

The national training camp will be conducted with a secure training module created in which players are divided into three different groups alongside their respective sparring partners and coaches as they will train within the group at different scheduled times.

In order to ramp up the coronavirus vaccination drive in the country, the Centre had last month announced a 'liberalised and accelerated' Phase 3 strategy of COVID-19 vaccination from May 1. As per the order, everyone above the age of 18 is eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine.